The Dark Night in Colorado and America's Mental Health

"The white man, that landed here; He came with two great weapons. One is the bible and the other was the gun. If he didn't humble you with the bible, he'd crumble you with the gun. And he's still praising the lord and passing the ammunition." - Lewis H. Michaux

As the media engages in the morbid coverage of The Dark Night of Colorado the Pro-Gun Lobby has conditioned America to simply treat these increasingly murderous sprees as "natural disasters".

We should feel sympathy for the victims and horror at the tragedy but, simply go back to our daily routine while awaiting the next shooting as though it's simply part of the societal landscape, like toronadoes, droughts, and Oil Spills.

But question the sanity of allowing someone to purchase 6000 rounds of ammunition? No, we can not do that, because the Holy Second Amendment. We are being held hostage to a warped vision of an idea. But, according to right-wing loonies these gun rampages are a god given immutable law and thus man can not change it. This is all just collateral damage of Freedom.

The writers over at Lawyers, Guns, and Money show how Conservative scum Glenn Reynolds immediately politcized the tragedy. Like most of the despicable tactics of right-wings it's brilliant. Use this horrific gun-fueled terrorist assualt as a political battering ram all the while bemoaning that Liberals are going to use it as a political battering ram.

Reverend Rick Warren tweeted shortly after the shooting, "When students are taught that they are no different from animals, they act like it." Nice christian compassion there Rick, you fat pile of putrid garbage, go back to bashing poor people for not paying enough taxes.

This incident is going to resonate for decades. A dozen murders, 59 wounded, hundreds more exposed to the carnage. Decades from now people and extended families will be dealing with the fallout and emotional damage.

But, that means nothing to right-wingers and gun loving loonies. No, they must retreat into a pseudo-philosphical realm where the death and devastation of unfettered access to guns is just some thought experminent.

Well, as always the first proposition of gun loonies is to claim if someone in the theater was packing this would have all been avoided. The way to combat gun violence is with *moar* guns!

This is, of course, ridiculous because James Holmes was "Acting" and any armed patron would be "Reacting". Action beats Reaction 99% of the time. But, when taking into account the number of people, the darkened conditions, the confusion, the smoke, the panic, and the up-armored murderer Holmes, how many rounds would be needed to drop him? But, such considerations are purposefully avoided by deluded gun loonies who would have you believe and probably believe themselves that they could draw, fire 2 rounds center mass and holster in 3 seconds all the while you enjoy the show.

Now, moving beyond the right-wing one-shot, one-kill Death Wish fantasy scenarios, gun loonies often claim that the mere thought that an intended gallery of victims would included a preponderance or even several armed persons would be enough to dissaude the attacker. And this is why famously Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and Bat Masterton never had to fire their guns or even pull their pistols in the old west because everyone was armed. But, if as every gun owner wants to claim Holmes was "crazy, sick, demented" then a logical fear of others having guns isn't going to stop him.

James Holmes obviously suffered a pyschotic break and based on his preperations he knew it. It's probable his study of the brain provided him with the edge in this incident. He was acting and knew the reaction times of his victims would be slowed and flawed.

More and more often in my daily duties as a Police Officer, I come into contact with people suffering from untreated mental disorders or diminished capacity. But, Police Officers should not be regularly tasked with responding to people suffering from reduced capacity or mental problems. When your only tool is a hammer, then everyone becomes a nail.

The Mental Health of members of society needs to be addressed by society. But, more and more "society" lets these people fall through the cracks because family counselors, DCFS workers, and mental health professionals are understaffed and overworked. While local and state governments choose to cut funding for those workers because budgets are squeezed.

And budgets are squeezed because the 1% in this Nation see no reason to invest in it. More and more superrich bastards, like Mitt Romney, ferret away Billions into off-shore tax havens.

The 1% have no reason to have a Post Office, no reason to have National Healthcare, no reason to have a Social Security safety net, no reason to regulate gun sales or control access to ammuntion. The 1% who control 50% of this country's wealth see no point in having a Nation.

They have the assets to set themselves up in little fiefdoms. The 1% don't see movies in giant cinemaplexs with the hoi poloi. They don't do downward facing dog with a bunch of middle class housewives. They have private movie studios. Yoga instructors come to their homes.

Society is at risk because the assets of society are being drained to the coffers of the Plutocracy.